While the Ballymaloe Cookery School Organic Farm is primarily horticultural, we keep a small number of animals that play an essential role in daily life here. Very simply, we could not do what we do without them.
Visitors to the school and farm will see that our animals enjoy the very best care and living conditions. Their health and happiness directly affects our health and happiness. To quote Darina: "the health of the soil, the health of the plant, the health of the animal and the health of the human are all one and indivisible." If our animals are respected and well treated, it is conveyed into the food we eventually consume.
On the farm there are both dairy cows and suckler cows that graze on organic pastures with lots of clover. The dairy breeds are Jersey and Friesian/Jersey cross and the suckler breeds are Kerry (a traditional Irish breed), Dexter and 3 Aberdeen Angus. More information
We have four traditional breeds of pigs, Gloucester Old Spot, Saddle-back, Tamworth and Berkshire, and lots of piglets. More information
We have about 350 hens! The 4 main varieties are Leg-Horn, Sussex , Black and Barred which the students feed daily with scraps from the morning’s cooking. More information
